Continuing my voyage through the NJPW TV year of 2009. Sadly, the final match on this show, an elimination match pitting Kanemoto, Kojima, Tenzan, Nagata and Nakanishi vs the GBH stable, doesn't seem to want to work for me, but the rest of the show went as follows...
Masato Tanaka vs Mitsuhide Hirasawa
Pretty enjoyable match with a simple-to-follow story: Hirasawa is the young NJPW rookie wanting to beat the outsider veteran (representing Zero-One). Hirasawa is all fighting spirit to start with as he wails on Tanaka in the corner, even having to be dragged off by the referee, but he soon falls prey to Tanaka, who takes him outside to inflict some damage. A chairshot to the knee as it's propped against the ringpost gives Tanaka a focal point and he begins to go to work on the leg of Hirasawa, cutting off any attempts to fightback by kicking him in the knee. Tanaka tries a frogsplash, but only gets knees to the stomach (which Hirasawa sells as well). Hirasawa gets a modicum of offence in the form of an exploder and a German suplex for two, but spends the rest of the match on defence. He gets to kick out of a brainbuster and a lariat, but a forearm smash gets the win for Tanaka. Good enough.
Tiger Mask vs Nobuo Yoshihari
Essentially a squash match. Yoshihari enjoys some basic offence to start, but gets knocked for six by a Tiger Mask kick to the head which sends him outside for a 14 count. Back in, a slap from TM almost knocks him clean out. Yoshihari gets a comeback with a flurry of punches and a bridging suplex for 2, before TM makes him tapout to a chicken wing. Short, inoffensive, but largely pointless.
Hirooki Goto vs Yujiro
Decent big man vs little man match, though Goto used to be a Jr heavyweight himself so he could keep up with the smaller Yujiro. The match is pretty close in the early stages, with Yujiro clotheslining Goto out of the ring at one point. Inside, Goto overpowers Yujiro, and hits him with a tough lookling toprope elbow for two. Yujiro has to rely on speed and agility to get an advantage, slipping out of a suplex attempt, before nailing Goto with Sliding D and a Catatonic for two. Yujiro manages to keep in the fight during some pretty even exchanges with Goto, even hitting a nice lariat for two, before being beheaded by a Goto lariat. Shouten gets the win for Goto. Reasonably competitive, considering the size difference, and Yujiro looked good on offence.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazuchika Okada
Okada looks really up for this one, getting in Nakamura's face before the bell even rings. As is an ongoing theme with this show, a younger, smaller guy goes up against a more established wrestler, but Okada gets to look better here than most against a former IWGP champion. Nakamura looks dominant during the early stages, but Okada gets a nice burst of offence, including a backdrop suplex where he pulls Nakamura from the ropes, but he soon gets caught in a sleeper for the tapout Nakamura win. Short, but it achieved what it aimed to do.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito
Another match with a young gun taking on a more established star, though this one goes longer than any of the others, which really helps Naito look good. He hangs well with Tanahashi at the start, and even gets to show-off after ejecting Tanahashi from the ring. Tanahashi begins to work over the leg of Naito, but get caught with a huge slap whilst posing that levels him. Naito goes on the offensive, but remembers to sell his leg while doing so. The two exchange Dragon Sleepers with each other in a nice spot and Naito gets another chance to look good by getting nearfalls after a moonsault and after a series of rollups, but his momentum is stopped by Tanahashi going back to the leg and getting the tapout following a Texas Cloverleaf. Really fun match, with Naito getting a ton of offence.
Kantaro Hoshino vs Gedo
Hoshino is a rather older gentleman than Gedo, so this is a streetfight to hide his weaknesses. Doesn't make this match any less dull though. Hoshino gets in a flurry of offence to start, including a top rope plancha, but Gedo soon takes control as they brawl through the crowd and the backstage area. The rest of the match is approximately 10 minutes of Gedo ramming Hoshino into things then covering him for two counts. Eventually, they get back to the ring, where Gedo hits only rope on a chairshot, knocking himself for six and leaving himself prone to a low kick and a punch for the Hoshino win. I understand why they booked the match this way due to Hoshino's limitations, but it doesn't make the match any more fun to watch.
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